FoodCloud Expanding in the UK with Leading Retailers

We are delighted that UK retailer Waitrose will be launching a trial with FoodCloud and our partners in FareSharein the UK this month. FoodCloud will pilot with 25 Waitrose branches, and if successful, will expand to all Waitrose stores throughout the UK.

Waitrose is the second UK retailer to use the FoodCloud platform to redistribute its surplus food. FoodCloud and FareShare launched with Tesco UK in February 2016, and in less than a year, we have facilitated the redistribution of 5 million meals from Tesco stores. Over 3,300 community groups and charities have benefited from donations from of good quality surplus food.

Tesco has ambitious targets to ensure no food that is safe for human consumption goes to waste inside Tesco’s UK operations by the end of 2017. Over 1,000 UK Tesco stores are now using the FoodCloud platform to donate their surplus food. Work is already underway to bring on a further 1,800 Tesco convenience stores in 2017.

FoodCloud are delighted to have this opportunity to scale in the UK and benefit more communities. In 2016, FoodCloud grew from 200 donating stores to over 1,200 across the UK and Ireland.

FoodCloud enables Tesco stores, and now Waitrose, to inform local charities of surplus food which is available for collection. To use FoodCloud, the store uploads details of the food available for donation using an app or in-store scanner. A local charity is then notified about the food available and can confirm if they are available to collect the donation from their local store.

The charities that receive this food – from breakfast clubs, to homeless hostels to family support services – are places that provide life changing support. The food provided through FoodCloud ensures these charities and grassroots organisations benefit from significant cost savings, which they can then re-invest in essential programmes to support their underlying mission.

Food is more than sustenance. It has amazing powers to bring people together. Partner charities report how the food facilitates conversations, inclusive activities and events and even friendships.